


Where Iron Meets Flame

by FallingLikeThis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Boys Kissing, Cheesy, Falling In Love, Fighting, Happy Ending, I basically just borrowed Ben's name, Knights - Freeform, Louis is a knight in training, M/M, Mage Harry, Mages, Mages are basically less powerful wizards in this world, Minstrel Niall, Protective Louis, So is Liam, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Sweet Harry, Swords & Sorcery, THERE IS A SCENE WHERE BAD MEN PLAN TO HURT HARRY, THEY DON'T GET TO BUT IT COULD POSSIBLY BE TRIGGERING SO I AM WARNING FOR IT NOW, Wizards, but hopefully cute, but nothing graphic, so if you don't like him don't let that keep you from reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:29:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7644610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingLikeThis/pseuds/FallingLikeThis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is a knight in training that emphatically doesn't believe in magic, Harry is a mage with confidence issues. When they are paired together to complete a mission, the last thing either of them expects is to fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Iron Meets Flame

**Author's Note:**

  * For [delsicle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delsicle/gifts).



> First of all, there were so many amazing prompts to choose from. I hope you like the one I chose.  
> And second, thank you so much to the moderators for putting this together. I didn't get to sign up originally but just having the chance to pinch hit made me so happy.  
> Thank you to M, your support just keeps inspiring me, and C, who pointed out my plot holes and made this fic at least 50% better and 70% less ridiculous. You guys are the best friends anyone could ask for.  
> Also, this is my sandbox so I had no issues with playing fast and loose with the rules, please try to suspend your disbelief.
> 
> A/n: In case you didn't read the tags, there is a scene in this that could possibly be triggering in which some (OC) men make comments that allude to rape. Nothing happens but I didn't want to risk not mentioning it.  
> .

Louis tries to ignore the crush of people loitering in the courtyard as he spars with the Knight Commander in front of the other recruits. There is a rumor that the King’s wizard is getting a new apprentice today and everyone is scrambling to be the first to get a good look at the boy. Many people have decided to watch the sparring in the practice ring while they wait and the extra eyes on Louis’ back are throwing him off. He isn’t used to having such a large audience. If he’d wanted to be watched, he would have entered the jousting tournament in Riverbend.

He just manages to parry a blow from Knight Commander Thorne’s blade, the near miss causing the Knight Commander’s face to go red with frustration.

“Pay attention,” the Knight Commander orders, swinging at Louis again with more force. “You get distracted on the battlefield, you get dead.”

“I know,” Louis grits out, blocking another blow. He knows the words aren’t intended just for him, they are for all the recruits to hear, but they hit especially close to home for Louis. He lost his father on the field of battle, he isn’t likely to forget any time soon. “I’m doing my best.”

“Your best?!?” The Knight Commander bellows, lowering his blade and turning to face the other recruits.

Louis takes the opportunity to have a brief, merciful rest, leaning on his practice sword as he takes in several deep breaths.

“Is that what you think I’m after?” Knight Commander Thorne asks of the recruits. “Your _best_?” He laughs. A loud, raucous noise that garners even more attention from the crowd in the courtyard. “If that’s all you have to offer, you’d best pack your shit up and head home now!”

Louis sees the eyes of the other recruits flick to him and away again. Once again, he’s said the wrong thing and caused the Knight Commander’s ire to fall on all of them. Embarrassment burns across his cheeks.

“I don’t want your sodding _best_. I want your blood, sweat, and tears. I want you spending every free moment honing your skills in the practice ring and then, when you go to sleep at night, I want you strategizing in your dreams how you can improve them even more tomorrow! I want your arm, your sword, your heart and soul. I want _everything_ , which for some of you - ,” the Knight Commander gives all the recruits a collective once-over before amending,” probably _all_ of _you_ , will include your lives. You came here to be in service to your king, and if you can’t give him everything you have, then you can get fucked. Anyone who isn’t willing to put in the effort should get the hell out of my practice ring, pack up your bags, and don’t let the castle gates hit you in the arse on the way out.”

Louis wipes the sweat from his eyes and tries to ignore the churning in his gut and the voice in the back of his head whispering at him that he’s never going to make it as a knight. He should have stayed in the service of Lord Pryor as his squire. He’d have been a squire for the rest of his miserable life but he’s less likely to let people down as a squire. Or worse, get them killed. It doesn’t matter that Lord Pryor seemed to think Louis was up for the task when the Knight Commander’s men had come charging through town, seeking recruits for the king’s army. Nor does it matter that only the best were offered the chance at knighthood and, somehow, Louis made the cut.

He’s steeling himself, preparing for Knight Commander Thorne to turn back around and keep making an example of him but there’s a ruckus across the courtyard that has everyone turning their attention towards the noise.

“Sorry, sorry!” A boy apologizes profusely, scrambling to help clean up the mess he’s just made by somehow overturning a produce cart. “I’m so sorry,” he says again gathering up heads of lettuce and radishes and carrots in his arms. He’s holding too much and they all start toppling to the ground again. “I-“

“Harry,” A voice calls sternly, causing the boy to freeze in his clumsy attempts at cleaning up his mess and turn towards it.

Louis looks too and sneers when he recognizes the court wizard, Benwin or something. Louis hasn’t bothered learning the man’s name because he doesn’t give crackpots like Benwin the time of day. Men who worm their way into the king’s favor with lies of magic and visions of the future deserve nothing but his disdain. Louis doesn’t believe in magic. It’s a fucking fairytale if he’s ever heard one.

He turns his eyes from the wizard and watches the new boy, Harry, as he turns to find all eyes on him, cheeks flushing when he sees everyone staring.

“I-, Sorry,” the boy stammers.

“Come, Harry,” Benwin, says with a defeated sigh.

“Yessir,” Harry says as he drops his armful of vegetables back into the cart, and scurries, head down, to follow.

Knight Commander Thorne snorts loudly. “If that’s the wizard’s new apprentice, we’re all fucked.”

He drops his sword in the center of the ring and turns to exit, knocking forcefully into Louis’ shoulder as he passes. “Keep practicing,” he bellows angrily over his shoulder. “We’re gonna fucking need it.”

 

~@~

 

Harry’s cheeks are hot with embarrassment as the Grand Wizard gives him a proper dressing down. He’s come straight from the Citadel and already he’s managed to undermine the wizard’s authority simply by being his clumsy self.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Harry winces. He doesn’t even know why he was chosen if he’s honest. He’s got a firm grip on the magic he does possess but it’s nothing like the magic the other hopefuls at the Citadel had brandished. There had been a young man there with whiskey-colored eyes that had wielded fire magic like nothing Harry had seen before. He was the kind of man that would do well leading an army, protecting a king. Harry doesn’t really see what he has to offer.

“I don’t need or want your apologies, Harry,” the wizard says with a heavy sigh. “I need you to know your place.”

Harry ducks his head but the wizard grasps his chin firmly between his thumb and forefinger and lifts it again.

“You’re no longer the simple farmboy that can charm the animals in his care anymore, Harry. You’ve been to the Citadel. You’ve learned about your magic, how to grasp onto it and use it to your advantage, and you’re well on your way to becoming a powerful wizard. But I can sense the insecurity in you, Harry, and there’s no reason for it. I chose you to be my apprentice because the Sight told me you were the best option. I’ve _seen_ you accept your role and excel at it. Your _place_ is at the King’s side,” he says, dropping his hand from Harry’s face.

“I’m sor—” Harry cuts off his apology at the stern glance the wizard gives him. “I just, I don’t know why your visions would tell you to pick me, sir. Honestly, I don’t feel all that powerful. I can call up a fire if we’re camping or charm a few animals, but how is that going to help the king?”

Benjamin Winston would have laughed if he weren’t so frustrated. He had felt the same way as his young apprentice when he’d first been put on his own path. He was just a fledgling mage with hardly any confidence in his own abilities when Merlin had found him. He’s lived a great many years since, firm in the knowledge that he’d do whatever it took to protect his king, that he _could_ protect his king better than most. Harry has the same potential. Ben just has to make him see it. He raises the pendant around his neck and presses his lips to it, a remembrance of his own years as an apprentice before his master had passed on the torch. “I assure you, my dear boy, you can help far more than you think possible. And I’m going to show you.”

 

~@~

 

“Payne,” Louis greets his fellow recruit as he sits across from him in the dining hall. He leans over the table and steals an apple off the man’s plate.

“You’ll never impress the Knight Commander if you’re too lazy to even get your own food, Tomlinson,” Liam Payne levels Louis with a flat look.

Louis takes a loud, overlarge bite of the apple and merely smiles at Liam as he chews. It used to be fun, picking on the other recruit, but Liam’s since stopped being bothered by it. He’s always got to ruin Louis’ fun in one way or another.

“So,” Louis says around his food, knowing Liam will be bothered by the sight of it moving around in his open mouth, “what did you think of the magician’s new apprentice?”

Liam sighs, refusing to look at Louis because he knows what the other man is doing. “You’ve got to stop calling him that. The last person you want to offend is a wizard, Louis.”

“What am I supposed to call him then, Leeyum? That’s what he claims to be, isn’t it?” Louis asks, eyes wide with faux innocence. They both know Louis’ never been innocent.

“A magician does parlor tricks for entertainment, Louis. A _wizard_ could kill you where you stand,” Liam glances up, “er, well, where you sit.”

Louis chuckles, unperturbed by Liam’s warning. “Then why doesn’t he?”

“Because he has better things to do with his time,” a low voice says from behind him, startling Louis.

He twists in his seat to see none other than Benwin standing directly behind him. Louis narrows his eyes, immediately suspicious of the man. “What do _you_ want?”

“Louis!” Liam lets out a strangled warning before giving the wizard an apologetic look. Only Louis would dare talk to his superiors like that.

“Something we can do for you?” Louis asks, ignoring Liam’s warning. The question is innocuous in itself but Louis’s tone douses the words in contempt.

Ben eyes both of the men seated before him, tilting his head as he considers them. They both seem the sturdy sort and he’s got it on good authority that these two are the absolute best of the Knight Commander’s new recruits. Liam Payne is the epitome of responsibility, respectful and kind. He’d be an excellent protector. Louis Tomlinson, on the other hand, has an aura of chaos about him. He’s mischievous and anger-fueled, Ben can see that even without the help of his Sight. There is, however, something deeper to the lad, a fierceness that Ben suspects could be useful. While Liam is duty-driven, Louis seems to be driven by a fire he carries within him. Ben needs that.

“Come with me,” he tells both of them, moving on without looking back.

Louis scoffs at the arrogance. He’s got half a mind to stay where he is. It’s only Liam’s prodding that gets him to his feet. Annoyed and lacking the patience to hide it, Louis rolls his eyes but ultimately follows his fellow recruit and the man he refuses to believe is anything other than a snake oil salesman.

 

 ~@~

 

“You told me you only wanted one of them,” Knight Commander Thorne argues with the wizard as Harry shuffles from foot to foot and tries not to draw the attention of the two men. He watches the two men Ben brought with him though, curiosity burning deep in his gut. They both look strong, capable. One of them, the pretty one, seems irritated. Harry sort of is too, knowing nothing of why they’re all here. He wishes his master wasn’t so cryptic. It leaves a quaky, nervous feeling in his gut that he hates.

“I need one of them to escort Harry to the village of Murielle. The other will accompany me to the Citadel,” Ben answers, drawing Harry’s attention back to the wizard as his stomach drops. _Of course_. Ben has decided that Harry isn’t the apprentice he was hoping for and he’s going to the Citadel to replace him, choosing his replacement in person this time to make sure he doesn’t end up with another flop. Apparently, he can ‘help the king’ by getting out of the way while the wizard chooses his replacement. Somewhere in the back of Harry’s mind is a vague thought about what he’ll find in the village of Murielle but it’s drowned out by the sense of betrayal and hurt that’s plaguing him.

“You’re not getting both of them,” the Knight Commander stands his ground even though everyone in the room knows that the wizard has the absolute authority of the king behind him. He can have whatever he wants.

“The one that travels with me to the Citadel will be back within a week,” Ben promises and Harry can see the Knight Commander’s shoulders tense up. The man knows he’s lost, there was never a chance to win here.

Thorne looks over the two men in question, eyes lingering on one before they return to the wizard. “Have Liam back to me in a week or I’m coming to the Citadel to get him myself.”

Harry sees Ben nod his acquiescence from the corner of his eye but his attention is caught on the other man, the one not named Liam apparently, who looks like he feels the sting of rejection every bit as much as Harry does right now. He glances at Harry and Harry tries to give him a small smile, a sort of _we’re in this together_ smile both because they’ve been forced into travelling together and because neither of them are happy with the situation. Harry figures just because the situation is bad, it doesn’t mean that they have to take it out on each other. The other man must not be thinking the same thing though because he scowls at Harry’s smile and turns his gaze to the floor.

“Come, Harry,” Ben calls, turning to leave, “we must prepare you for your journey while these two take care of their own preparations.”

Harry bows his head and follows the wizard. He’s not been here a full day and already he’s being sent away.

 

~*~

 

“Stupid magician,” Louis mutters under his breath as he mounts his horse in the early hours of morning the next day. He’s being sent to Murielle with the charlatan’s apprentice and the trip is going to take at least a fortnight each way. He hasn’t been informed what they’ll be doing there and that may be what vexes him most of all, his only mission is to protect the apprentice on their journey but how can he do that without knowing what they’ll be doing and if it’s dangerous or not. Looking at the boy –probably old enough to be considered a man but Louis is choosing not to acknowledge that out of simple spite— he can’t imagine that anyone would put such a helpless-looking creature in harm’s way. Not even Benwin. So there probably isn’t much to worry about. Still, he’d like to get moving so that he can get back sooner rather than later. Even if the Knight Commander doesn’t want him back.

He watches from atop his horse as Benwin hands the boy something wrapped in cloth and lectures him for the next five minutes. Seriously, does he think Louis has nothing better to do than twiddle his thumbs? Well, thanks to Benwin, he kind of does, at least until he sees fit to let them leave.

Finally, Benwin shuts his trap and lets the boy mount his horse with a ‘be careful’ tossed at the boy and not even a glance thrown Louis’ way. Louis isn’t bothered, he’d rather have nothing to do with the magician at all if he could manage it.

“Do your job, and do it well,” the Knight Commander orders before Louis can even think of turning his horse towards the gate.

“Yes, sir,” Louis says, not completely able to keep a little bitterness from his tone. He’s known from day one that the Knight Commander doesn’t like him, he shouldn’t let it bother him that the man obviously favors Liam. Anyone would. In the end, it doesn’t matter how he feels. A little bitterness won’t stop him from doing his duty.

 

~*~

 

Harry knows what the wizard is doing, giving Harry a task like this, trying to make him feel like he’s not a complete and utter failure. It’s nice of him, but Harry really kind of just wants to go home if he can’t stay at court. At least at home, he knows they want him there. And it’s been so long since he’s seen his family. Once the wizards had come and realized that he was a mage, that his ability to sooth the animals when they were agitated or charm the neighbors into forgiving a broken fence or unintended insult was more than just natural charisma, he’d been sent to the Citadel straight away. Magic left unchecked had been known to burn villages to the ground. Even if it didn’t seem like Harry had that kind of destructive power, it was better to be safe than sorry his parents had said, even though they clung to him like they didn’t want to let him go. Harry had been twelve at the time but, even then, he’d understood. His parents hadn’t even been all that worried about their home, they’d been worried about Harry. They’d been trying to protect _him_ first and foremost. Six years and a lot of tear-stained letters later, Harry still misses them terribly. He clutches his pendant, the one given to all mages when they leave the Citadel. He holds it tight because it’s the closest thing he has to home right now.

“So,” his guard for the trip breaks the silence after about an hour on the road. “What do I call you, then?”

“Harry,” the young mage answers quietly, startled from his thoughts.

“You’re not going to insist that I call you ‘ _the great and powerful’_ or something?” the other man asks, sneering.

“ _No_ ,” Harry answers, offended at the implication. Even if he _were_ great and powerful, he wouldn’t boast about it. He wouldn’t make people feel lesser simply because he was born with something they weren’t.  He may also still be smarting from the knowledge that he’ll never be a ‘great and powerful’ anything, having been dismissed so quickly from the king’s service. He may be pouting a bit.

“Good, because I wouldn’t call you that anyway.”

Harry turns to answer that, tell him that Harry doesn’t need him to call him anything. If he’s going to be rude, they can just stay quiet the whole way to Murielle, it’s no skin off his nose. But before Harry can open his mouth the other man is moving ahead of him, taking up the lead, so Harry just leaves it. It’s not like he’s not used to keeping himself entertained anyway.

 

~*~

 

The apprentice – Harry –has been quiet for the past few hours, just trailing behind Louis at a slow trot. Louis might feel just the smallest bit remorseful for brushing him off earlier without even giving the boy a chance. He’s not been rude or demanding of Louis, nor has he treated him like he’s beneath him. He’s just been quiet, contemplative.

Louis pulls his horse to a stop and dismounts.

“What are we doing?” Harry asks, stopping his horse but not making a move to dismount.

Louis looks up at him, shielding the sun from his eyes with one hand while he leads his horse by the reins with the other.  “Just watering the horses. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve ridden for so long, need to stretch my legs for a bit.”

Harry steers his horse to follow Louis’ and only hops off the animal when they’ve reached the small creek Louis’ been leading them to. Instead of talking to Louis, Harry pulls a brush out of his travel bag and starts brushing his horse down, murmuring to it as he works.

“I don’t think he understands you,” Louis pipes up after watching for a few minutes. He’s bored and maybe a little lonely having to keep to himself. It’s no one’s fault but his own and he’s attempting to remedy that. Harry isn’t making it easy for him.

“He understands more than you think,” Harry retorts without even bothering to glance in Louis’ direction.

“How do you know? Do you speak to animals? Do they speak back?” Louis asks with a gasp, unable to keep from making fun.

Harry glares at him. “Sort of.”

“Sort of? What the hell does that mean? How do animals _sort of_ speak to you?” Louis sits down at the base of a tree as his horse drinks his fill.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Harry says turning back to his horse to ignore him.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t. We both know that magic is a crock of shit,” Louis looks away, no longer caring to carry on a conversation. He’s annoyed now. Memories of mages crowding his own village flooding through his mind. They’d come with promises of cures for the plague that had hit the village. All of Louis’ sisters were gone within the week and not a single cure was administered. The so-called mages had taken all their money and left only death in their wake. The village was devastated, nearly all of the children gone and a good half the adults crippled or blinded by the sickness. Louis’ mother had sent him to Lord Pryor a few months later and died herself a few months after that.

“Is that what you think?” Harry asks, turning to Louis again, his hands stopping in their movements. He takes a few steps away from the horse, closer to Louis. “Is that why you’ve been so rude to me? Because you think I’m a fake? That we’re _all_ fake?”

Louis doesn’t answer, just stares at Harry with defiance burning in his eyes. It’s answer enough for Harry.

The boy scoffs and shakes his head. “What? Do you want proof?”

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Louis snips, staring. Waiting.

Harry stares back long enough that Louis starts to think he’s won. Harry isn’t going to give him proof because he _can’t_. He smirks.

Harry’s eyes narrow at the sight of Louis’ smugness rearing it’s ugly head and he looks around himself. What he’s looking for, Louis doesn’t know. He can’t deny he’s curious to see what Harry’s going to use to try and convince him though.

Harry’s eyes finally stop moving, catching on something in the trees overhead. He starts whistling, a sweet little tune, as he holds his hand out. Seconds later, a pretty little bird with brown wings and a red breast lands on his fingers. The bird sings back to Harry and Louis can’t stop a genuine smile from taking the place of his smirk as he watches. Harry murmurs something to the bird and then it’s flying off again.

“That was a cute little parlor trick,” Louis admits, standing up from his seat on the ground and wiping the grass off the back of his breeches.

“It wasn’t a trick,” Harry says with a grin.

Louis doesn’t know what he’s smiling about. But then he feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns his head to find the little bird perched there. A flower held in its beak. Louis reaches carefully to take it. Beak free, the bird chirps at him happily and flies back to its nest.

“Do you believe me now?” Harry asks, grin still gracing his face. He looks pretty wearing a smile, cheeks dimpled, and Louis is almost sorry to disappoint him.

“I don’t believe in magic,” he says, tossing the flower down and tying his horse’s reins to a tree, grabbing his waterskin to take a drink.

“You’re really that hardheaded, aren’t you?” Harry asks incredulously. “You wouldn’t have believed me no matter what I did.”

“Probably not,” Louis answers with a shrug, pulling out half a loaf of bread next. He tears it in half and tosses the slightly bigger piece to Harry.

Harry catches the bread but he’s still staring at Louis. “You can’t convince someone of something they don’t want to believe. They’ll just find a way to convince themselves it’s a trick.”

Louis doesn’t know which of them Harry is talking to, but he doesn’t respond, chewing on his bread and then moving to refill his waterskin. They’ll need to get moving again soon if they want to get anywhere before nightfall.

He’s not going to lie, Harry’s bird trick was entertaining, but it proves nothing. If he picks up the flower and presses it between the covers of the book he carries with him at all times, he’s sneaky enough that Harry doesn’t see it. And he doesn’t let himself question why he feels the need to keep it.

 

~*~

 

“Hey,” Harry says after they’ve been back on the road for a few minutes, causing his protector to turn his gaze towards him. “You never told me your name.”

“Louis.”

He doesn’t offer anything else so Harry doesn’t ask. He doesn’t really need anything else. It’s just nice to put a name to the person he’s ranting to himself about in his head. Louis both intrigues and infuriates him. He doesn’t really know what to do with either revelation, so he does nothing.

 

~*~

 

When they set up camp for the night, Harry calls up a fire to keep them warm. He smiles at Louis as the man stares at the flames Harry brought forth from his fingertips. Louis glances up at him before returning his gaze to the fire. He says nothing, doesn’t smile or scowl, and Harry wonders if maybe he wasn’t looking when he made the fire.

They eat in silence and then lay out their blankets, Harry clutching the bundle that Ben had given him to deliver to Murielle in his arms. He was told to protect it so he’s kept it close. It feels solid under the fabric it’s wrapped in and Harry thinks it might be a book, perhaps a spellbook. He doesn’t know. But if it’s the last thing he does, he’s going to make sure it gets to where it’s supposed to go.

He falls asleep within minutes of laying down and doesn’t feel the eyes on his back, staring across the fire.

 

~*~

 

“So, what do you have against magic, anyway?” Harry finally asks midday through their third day on the road.

They’ve been mostly quiet up until now and Louis rolls his eyes at the loss of it.

“You can’t have something against a thing that doesn’t exist,” Louis insists, stubborn as always as they trot down the road.

“You’ve _seen_ me speaking to the animals! You’ve seen the fire I conjure every night. You saw me mend my robes last night with a spell. What more do you need??” Harry asks, voice stringent with disbelief.

“You’ve said yourself, you can’t convince someone who doesn’t want to believe,” Louis answers without meaning to.

It’s not the first time Harry’s disarmed him so completely, pulling truth from behind Louis’ walls. Last night, during one of their rare conversations, Harry had mentioned missing home. Louis had meant to say something cutting, something like ‘ _get over it’_ or ‘ _keep it to yourself’_ but instead what had come out was a plaintive “me too”. And when Harry asked why he’d left, Louis had told him. “There’s nothing there for me anymore”, he’d simply said. Harry hadn’t said anything to that and Louis had been grateful.

“Why don’t you want to believe?” Harry asks, speeding up his horse so that he’s riding next to Louis instead of trailing behind him like he has been practically since they left the castle. His green eyes trained on Louis are more than he can handle right now.

“That’s none of your business, Curly,” Louis says, pulling ahead again, irrationally hoping the mage won’t be offended and then catching himself and wondering why he cares.

 

~*~

 

It’s beyond frustrating trying to get to know his protector but Harry doesn’t know his past. He’s got his reasons, Harry’s sure, for clinging desperately to his disbelief in magic. Harry finds himself wishing Louis would just _talk to him_. Despite their less than stellar start, Harry likes the man. He’s funny without trying and kind, if only begrudgingly on occasion. Harry thinks it’s only begrudging because Louis still thinks he’s trying to make a fool out of him somehow.

They’ve stopped near a small lake to rest for the night. Louis is settling down to sleep but Harry would very much like to bathe. He leaves the book he’s protecting next to Louis’ belongings –it may be a bit premature but he trusts the other man to watch over it– and makes his way to the water. It’s a short distance from their campground, but far enough that Harry doesn’t feel like his privacy is at risk.

The lake is fed by a small waterfall that Harry watches as he sheds his clothes. His eyes close involuntarily as he steps into the cool water. It feels good against his skin and Harry revels in feeling even the smallest bit clean again. He makes his way over and stands beneath the waterfall, enjoying the water splashing over his scalp as he digs his fingers into his hair, working to rid it of four days’ worth of dirt. He’d been spoiled at the Citadel, having a bath nearly every other day. It’s been a trial getting used to doing without again –it was a common occurrence when he was but a simple farmboy– but the water against his skin feels so heavenly he’s not going to complain just now.

“Well, look what we got here, boys!” A ragged voice calls from the other side of the lake, the side farthest from their camp, farthest from Louis. Harry spins at the voice and takes in the three men watching him bathe. They’re filthy but well-armed. Harry’s heart clenches when he recognizes them for what they are. Bandits. “This here’s a pretty one,” the leader adds with a leer.

When the other two agree with hunger in their eyes, Harry knows he’s in trouble.

“Come on out, boy,” the ruffian orders. “We won’t hurt ya. Much.”

“No, thank you,” Harry replies, hands trembling. No wonder Ben didn’t want him, he can’t even seem to think of a way to protect himself other than to hope they won’t come into the water.

“Listen to them manners!” one of the other men hoots. “Manners ain’t gonna save you now,” the other supplies with a mirth-filled grin.

They are going to hurt Harry, he realizes rather suddenly as the leader takes a step into the water, clothes and all. And they’re going to enjoy it.

“No!” Harry yells, hoping against hope that Louis will hear and come running, that Harry’s trust in him isn’t misplaced. He throws out a hand in front of him, like that’s somehow going to keep the marauders at bay.

Somehow, though Harry has no idea how, it does. When the leader tries to take another step closer, he gains no ground, steps landing in exactly the same place they left.

“Huh?” he grunts in question, staring down at his feet that refuse to cooperate.

“Harry?” Louis’ voice calls just before he comes into view. He sees the bandits and immediately jumps into action.

Unfortunately, whatever Harry’s done doesn’t hold them in place completely, it just won’t let them get closer to him, specifically. It’s like he’s built a shield around himself, which is something Harry didn’t know he was capable of. His magic has never really been defensive. Nor has it been offensive. Harry isn’t really sure how you would describe it.

One of the bandits lunges at Louis swinging a cutlass and Harry manically wonders if they used to be pirates before they decided they found being on land more profitable.

Louis parries the blow and fits his dagger between the man’s ribs in a sneak attack. Harry hadn’t even known he carried a dagger.

“Claude!” their leader cries while the other man runs at Louis with fury etched on his features.

“That’s my brother!” The man bellows, swinging at Louis with a dagger in each hand. He’s quicker than Claude, dodging each swing of Louis’ sword and Harry worries for his protector.

“Well, he’s dead now. But I could help you reunite with him, if you’d like,” Louis quips, smirking at the man even as he rages and makes a renewed effort to kill the would-be knight.

Harry’s so busy worrying about Louis that he almost misses the leader of the bandits circling behind him. He’s not entirely sure how he put up the barrier that kept these men from getting to him other than feeling a desperate need to protect himself. He wonders if he can make a different kind of barrier, because now he feels a desperate need to protect Louis. He stares at the man trying to sneak up on Louis and imagines a cage holding him in place. It seems to work, the man banging his fist on an invisible wall while Louis struggles to disarm his friend.

“You’re the one I’d like to see dead,” the thug with the daggers spits at Louis.

Louis laughs in his face even as his sword catches on the other man’s daggers, both of them pushing, neither giving an inch. “No, you’re right. You don’t get a choice. A family reunion is inevitable.”

“Stop trying to kiss him and kill him already!” the leader yells from his unseen cage.

Louis grins, ducking down just as the other man swings at him and sweeping his leg out, catching the bandit behind the ankles and knocking his feet out from under him. “Your wish is my command.” He uses his sword to dispatch of the man on the ground then turns to the leader and freezes in place.

He eyes the last bandit warily when he sees the man isn’t moving beyond the swinging of his fists, which seem to be bouncing off of a wall that neither of them can see. It’s almost like he imagined that last bandit was just waiting for his chance at Louis, like they have some kind of honour that would keep them from trying to jump him all at once.

Louis’ gaze flies from the unmoving man to Harry, eyes wide and wild when they see his hand up and Harry doesn’t think Louis will be able to deny that _something_ magical is at work here, not even to himself.

“I can’t hold him forever, Louis,” Harry’s voice is strained as he tries to keep the magic in place. He’s not used to this kind of magic and it’s quickly starting to wear on him.

The bandit sees Harry’s weakness and tries to exploit it, throwing all of his weight at the barrier. He’s only managed it once, Harry crying out at the pressure on his magic, before Louis’ sword runs the man through.

Harry drops his hand immediately, falling back against the rock wall behind him uncaring of the water cascading over him as he tries to catch his breath.

“Harry?” Louis calls, voice sounding unsure for the first time since Harry’s met him. “Are you alright under there?”

“I’m fine,” Harry forces out with a heavy breath, clutching his chest in relief. “I’m–” He cuts himself off, stepping out from under the water so that he can see Louis more clearly. “Thank you. You probably saved my life. You _definitely_ saved my virtue.”

Louis gives him a half grin. “I think I can probably say the same for you. Well, not about my virtue, but probably my life.”

Harry gives Louis a small smile in return. He’s sure he’d appreciate the acknowledgement a bit more if he weren’t feeling so shaky.

“Oh!” Louis says suddenly, as though he’s just now realizing that Harry’s standing there naked. Maybe he is. “I’ll just–” he gestures vaguely back towards camp and moves to head in that direction before Harry’s panicked voice calls him back.

“Could you, um, stay? And maybe just turn around?” Harry asks, covering his chest shyly with his arms. Now that things have settled down, he’s just realizing that he’s been standing here, brazenly showing himself off, the water of the lake only coming up just past his hips.

“Of course,” Louis nods, tone understanding. He turns his back to Harry but stays put as promised as Harry moves briskly out of the water and hurriedly throws his clothes back on.

Together, they trudge back to camp, Louis’ hand resting lightly on Harry’s lower back.

Harry’s eyes immediately seek out the book under his protection and he stiffens when he doesn’t see it.

“Louis? Where is– ?”

“It’s okay, Harry,” Louis assured him kindly, leaving Harry’s side to cross over to a tree on the other side of camp. There’s a hollow in the trunk that’s well hidden by a few low-hanging branches. “I hid it as soon as you left.”

“Why?” Harry asks, thoroughly confused as Louis delicately hands the book back to him. “Did you know we’d be attacked?”

“No,” Louis shakes his head, smiling ruefully at whatever thought has been drudged up by Harry’s question. “Knight Commander Thorne is always telling us to be ready for anything. _Do better than your best and always be thinking of ways to be better than that tomorrow_.”

Harry laughs lightly when Louis’ voice drops with the last sentence. It’s not a very good impression from what Harry’s seen but it’s well enough that Harry would know who it was even if it hadn’t been stated.

“I don’t think that man gives you enough credit,” Harry says, looking down as the swathed book, running his hand over the fabric covering it.

“Nah,” Louis disagrees. “He was right. I would have been killed if you hadn’t been there.” He shrugs like he could care less about what he’s just said but Harry can tell it was hard for him to admit that he was in serious danger.

“You probably wouldn’t have been attacked at all, had I not been there,” Harry argues. “If Ben wasn’t sending me away, I wouldn’t need protection and you’d still be training at the castle with the other knights in training.”

“Harry,” Louis grasps Harry’s shoulders with both hands. “If I hadn’t been here, someone else would have made sure I learned to watch my back better and it might not have ended quite so well for me in that case. You can’t blame yourself for something that’s not your fault, I won’t let you.”

“Okay,” Harry gives in and Louis removes his hands. Harry almost wishes he hadn’t. For a moment, he had felt grounded, settled. Now, he feels all jumbled again, scared and overemotional.

“C’mon,” Louis nods towards their bedrolls. “You should get some sleep. I’ll keep watch for a while.”

Harry nods and moves towards the spot where his things are laid out. Before he lays down though, he eyes Louis’ bed across the fire from him. “Um, Louis?” Harry voices nervously, fiddling with the fabric in his hands. “This might be weird but–“

Louis smirks, sitting down in his own spot and holding a hand out. “C’mere, Curly.”

Harry hurries over and, taking Louis’ hand, lets the other man pull him down to join him.

Harry takes it for the invitation it is and lies down on Louis’ bedroll. He snuggles backward when he feels Louis’ warmth wrap around him from behind, causing the Louis to chuckle fondly as Harry clutches the book to his chest and settles in to sleep.

It’s quiet for a few minutes, long enough for Harry to start drifting, when Louis’s arm lifts off of Harry’s waist. Harry makes a soft noise of protest but when Louis’ fingers flit through his curls he changes his mind, purring his pleasure.

“My sisters died of the plague,” Louis says lowly, fingers still caressing Harry’s curls. “A group of mages came through our village and promised to save them. We gave them everything we had and my sisters still died. They didn’t save anyone, Harry.”

Harry opens his eyes and rolls over to face Louis, ignoring his own disappointment when Louis’ hand falls from his hair. “I’m so sorry, Louis. That might be the worst thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t _believe_ anyone could be so cruel,” Harry tells the other boy, taking Louis’ hand gently between both of his.

 “You see? If magic exists, it could have saved them, but it didn’t.” Louis says, eyes bright with unshed tears.

Harry doesn’t know what to say to comfort Louis other than the truth, and that’s probably not going to be very comforting at all. Harry hesitates but squeezes Louis’ hand and tells him anyway. Maybe it will help in some small way to know that absolutely nothing could have been done. “Louis,” Harry starts, lightly brushing Louis’ fringe from his eyes with one hand as he tries to be delicate with his words, “I’m sorry to say, but there’s no magic I know of that could have saved your family. Healing magic died out a long time ago.”

Louis sniffs as his tears spill over and nods his acceptance of Harry’s words. He’s heard the tales of the enchanters as well, a line of mages that had been more powerful than any other but now cease to exist. He’d probably always known that there was no real way to save his sisters, but people will believe a lot of things in a moment of desperation. For years now, Louis’ been desperate to hold on to the lie, to have someone to blame. He thinks he might be ready to let that go. “I know.”

Both hands back to grasping Louis’, Harry tries to tread carefully, “Thank you for sharing that with me, Louis. For trusting me like that.”

“I’ve been horrible to you, Harry, and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve it,” Louis bites his lip, not looking at Harry.

“Is that why you’ve told me all this? As some sort of peace offering?” Harry asks, not loosening his grip on Louis’ hand. He’s not angry, he can understand, now, why Louis’ would have trouble trusting a mage after what had happened to him.

“No,” Louis shakes his head, finally bringing his gaze up to meet Harry’s. “I just, I wanted to explain. Before, you asked and– _that_ was why I didn’t want to believe in magic.”

“ _Didn’t_?” Harry repeats, not missing the way the word is past tense.

Louis sighs, smiling bitterly. “I don’t know if I’m ready to believe in magic, Harry,” he says, lifting his hand from between Harry’s to twist his fingers in Harry’s curls again, “but I believe in you.”

The words make something glow warm under Harry’s skin and thrum in his chest and whirl like butterflies in his stomach.

 

~*~

 

The next seven days pass without incident, mage and protector growing closer with each passing day. Louis learns that Harry is far more clever than he’d realized and funny too. It isn’t the kind of quick-witted humor that Louis has, but something sweeter, kinder. Harry tells the kind of jokes that Louis’ little sisters would have loved. It makes him both smile and ache for them. And it makes him ache for Harry, too, because the mage thinks he’s being sent to stay in Murielle, being forced from his apprenticeship for not being good enough. Louis would like to get his hands on Benwin and wring the man’s neck for making Harry feel this way.

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think, Harry,” Louis tries to reassure him but Harry doesn’t seem keen to listen.

“It’s fine,” Harry says, “the king deserves someone who can protect him better than I can.” Louis almost believes he means it.

“You protected me just fine,” Louis argues.

“I didn’t even know I could do that,” Harry says, awe still layered in his tone. “I was at the Citadel for six years, I shouldn’t still be learning about my magic.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Louis tells him thoughtfully and Harry smiles when he doesn’t adamantly insist that Harry’s talking rubbish simply because they’re on the subject of magic. “I think you’ll spend the rest of your life learning about your magic. As you should and– What are you smiling about, Curly?” Louis breaks off, grinning back even though he has no idea why Harry’s smiling in the first place.

“You keep defending me, even when I’m not sure I deserve it,” Harry answers, lowering his eyes to look at where he’s petting his horse’s mane as they ride. “It’s sweet.”

“You do deserve it,” Louis counters, suddenly serious again and something flips over in his belly. Voice so quiet he’s not sure if wants Harry to hear or not when he adds, “And you deserve sweet.” Then, he pulls ahead again, too conflicted to stay and see if Harry heard him.

That night, they enter the township of Chester and get a room at an inn to rest for the night. There’s one bed which they share, Louis wrapped protectively around his mage. He knows he shouldn’t enjoy being around Harry as much as he does. If Harry’s theories are correct, he may even have to say goodbye when they reach Murielle. Louis hopes fervently that it’s not true, because it’s getting harder and harder for Louis to imagine leaving him behind.

 

~*~

 

They aren’t even an hour from Chester when they come across more bandits in the process of robbing a minstrel that’s travelling on foot.

“Back me up,” Louis tells Harry with a wink before jumping from his horse and into the fray.

Harry uses his barriers to protect both Louis and the minstrel to the best of his abilities. Luckily, he’s been practicing keeping the barrier in place longer and longer each day so that it won’t weaken him as much. However, it’s one thing to have a barrier that’s just sitting there and another completely to have one that’s being attacked by the person on the other side. In this case, Harry’s burdened with two.

Harry drops the one around the felled bandit that Louis just took care of and turns to the minstrel. He can feel his focus slipping, too tired to keep up the shield that’s being thrashed and slashed at by the bandit’s dagger.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpers when he can’t hold it anymore. He closes his eyes, unable to make himself look as he’s certain he’s just cost the minstrel his life.

The clash of iron meeting iron startles them open again a second later and he looks over to see Louis win the day yet again as the last bandit falls at his feet.

“Holy shite!” The mistrel exclaims, his accent is strange. He’s obviously not a Briton. “That was incredible!”

Louis laughs at the man’s enthusiasm. “Happy to help, mate,” he says, sliding his sword into its sheath.

“No, really,” the man insists. “I’ve never seen anything like that! My name’s Niall, glad to know ya!” he declares taking Louis’ hand and shaking it forcefully. It looks silly enough to make Harry laugh.

“Louis,” Louis greets him, trying in vain to pull his hand back. “That’s Harry,” he gestures with his other hand to where Harry is still seated on his horse.

“Hiya,” Niall finally drops Louis hand to wave cheerfully at Harry. Harry’s inordinately grateful that a wave is all he gets. “Would you be headed toward the city of Pamona by any chance?”

“We’re not going quite that far, I’m afraid,” Harry tells him apologetically.

“Ah well,” Niall shrugs, “Can I travel with you for a day or two at least? I feel like I’ll be better off with you lot than on my own.”

“Err,” Harry doesn’t know how to answer that. He looks to Louis to see what he’ll say.

“I’d like to say yes, mate–” Louis starts and that’s apparently enough to have Niall accept the answer as a firm ‘yes’ instead of a tentative one.

He claps Louis on the shoulder with a wide grin. “Thanks, mate! We’d best get moving, daylight’s wastin’.”

Louis and Harry both watch as the man walks ahead, a cheery bounce in every step. They glance at each other, both wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into. After a good thirty seconds of staring after Niall, Louis sighs heavily and mounts his horse again, following the jolly man instead of questioning it. Harry follows his lead, fighting a smile as he goes.

 

~*~

 

After an hour of walking with a swift-talking, enthusiastic Niall, Harry had decided that it wasn’t fair to make the lad walk while they both had horses so he’s talked Louis into sharing. Luckily, this plan involves Louis sharing with Harry while Niall rides the other horse on his own. He knows it’s probably smarter to have the near-stranger share with one of them. They don’t know this man, he could take off with the horse, never to be seen again. But honestly, Louis would rather lose the horse alone than the horse with Harry on it, should the man decide he’s in the mood for a little kidnapping.

Besides, it’s nice having Harry’s arms wrapped around his waist, holding tightly as they ride and chat amicably with the minstrel. Maybe a little too nice, Louis’ stomach going crazy with butterflies every time Harry gets close enough for Louis to feel his breath on his neck.

Niall seems to find them both hilarious as he laughs at nearly everything they say. After a while, they all quiet down a little, happy to just enjoy the countryside and good company. Then, Niall twists his lute around from where it was resting against his back and starts strumming a jaunty tune. He sings along and Louis is pleasantly surprised by how nice his voice is. It’s even more surprising to hear Harry’s voice join in the song, the two sounding amazing together. Louis listens quietly and enjoys the ride, not even tempted to join in the singing. He used to sing to his sisters but… Well, that’s not really something he lets himself think of anymore.

When they set up camp for the night, Louis feels the most settled he has in a long time. He watches Harry laugh and sing with Niall while he cooks their dinner. He didn’t think anyone would ever feel like family again, but Harry’s starting to. Not the kind that Louis lost, no one can replace that, but a new kind of family. The kind that Louis had thought would never be in the cards for a guy like him. He wants to _be with_ Harry. He wants to take a chance again on believing in something other than himself. He’s already started to as he’d told Harry only four days into their journey. He’s never been very good at believing in himself anyway. Now comes the big question: does he say something? Or keep quiet?

 

~*~

 

“Come here, Lou,” Harry says, pulling Louis from his perch next to the fire with a smile. “I want to show you something.”

He leads Louis by the hand to the edge of the forest until they’re at a cliff, the sunset beautiful and clear on the horizon, the world literally at their feet. “Isn’t it breathtaking?” Harry asks, overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounds them.

“Yes, it is,” Louis’ voice is right in his ear and when he turns to look, Harry finds Louis already staring back. He can feel his cheeks flush at the thought that Louis might have been looking at him all along, that _he’s_ what Louis finds breathtaking.

The soft sounds of Niall’s lute can be heard from their camp. It’s a nice addition to the atmosphere, making the scene before them more than just beautiful. Now, it’s romantic.

Louis touches Harry’s cheek with just the tips of his fingers and Harry wonders if he can feel the fire burning beneath his skin. “You’re more beautiful than any sunset, Harry,” Louis confesses softly.

“You are,” Harry argues, clutching the loose fabric of Louis’ shirt and making Louis chuckle happily.

“Are you going to fight me on this?” He asks, laughter in his tone, mirth in his eyes. Harry loves the way they crinkle at the edges when he’s truly happy.

“We fight about everything else,” Harry grins with a shrug, because it’s true. They argue about everything but it’s good. They keep each other on their toes, they refuse to let each other think less of themselves than they are.

“Well,” Louis hums, face inching closer to Harry’s. “Just this once,” _closer_. “You’ll have to take my word for it.”

Harry literally loses his breath when Louis’ lips touch his in the most delicate press of a kiss. He pulls back quickly to steal another lungful of air so that he can kiss Louis properly when he surges back into him. They cling to each other, sharing openmouthed kisses that could light the sun on fire should it ever be extinguished. Harry feels like _he’s_ on fire, the flame to Louis’ iron will, and together, they’re forging something beautiful.

Niall is still playing his lute when they return to camp long after the sun has disappeared over the horizon, none the wiser about what they’ve been doing. They sing a few more songs together because they feel bad about leaving Niall on his own for so long and then lay down to sleep for the night.

If Niall thinks it’s weird how Harry and Louis lay so close together, curled around each other like the links of a chain, he doesn’t say a word about it.

 

~*~

 

Niall leaves them the next morning when they reach the small town of Morita. He finds a pretty girl to flirt with and decides he’ll be staying for a while. The three of them have grown close in the course of their short time together and the thought of saying goodbye hurts more than it probably should after only a day of travelling together. They say goodbye after a shared breakfast and Louis tries not to feel to upset about it, a guy like Niall won’t let them stay out of touch for long, he’s sure of it.

“I’ll be here for a while,” Niall tells them, winking at his lass over Harry’s shoulder before gracing his two friends with a bright smile. “Send me a raven when you get settled wherever you’re goin’.”

“We will,” Harry promises, giving Niall a hug that looks just shy of a death grip. Louis has to pry him away to get a turn of his own.

“Take care of yourself,” Louis’s voice is muffled by Niall’s shoulder as they embrace but he knows the other man heard him when he tells Louis that he should do the same. “And no more travelling with bandits. They don’t appreciate your music half as much as they should.”

Niall laughs at Louis’ lame attempt at a joke like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “I promise.”

It’s hard turning their back on their new friend but they do need to get back on the road soon. It’s just as they reach the door that Niall calls out to them. “And don’t think I don’t know what you two got up to when you disappeared together last night.”

He’s still laughing as both men push through the door, heat flaming their cheeks and mount their horses.

“Can you curse him or something?” Louis asks, when they’re astride their horses and can still see Niall laughing though an open window.

Harry grins a little but shakes his head. “Sorry. My magic doesn’t work like that.”

“Damn,” Louis curses playfully.

 They wave to Niall one last time through the window before setting out on the last leg of their journey. If all goes well, they’ll reach Murielle in the morning.

Louis tries not to be petulant as their destination grows nearer but he knows he’s not handling it well. He can’t bear the thought of losing Harry now, if that’s what has to happen. He considers staying in the village with Harry if he’s not to return to the castle with Louis but he doubts Harry would let him. And even if he would, Louis has pledged himself to the king’s service, whether he gets knighted or not. He has a duty, he doesn’t think he has it in him to break his oath.

“Louis, talk to me,” Harry begs after one too many hours of Louis sulking.

“I don’t want to leave you,” He admits. It still surprises him how honest he is with Harry when he can’t even be honest with himself half the time.

“I can’t promise you won’t have to Louis, but I don’t want you to either,” Harry shares. “I think, unless I have strict instructions to stay in Murielle, then I’d like to go back with you when you go. If you want.”

Louis scoffs like Harry’s the biggest idiot in the history of Great Britain. “ _Of course_ , I want. What part of _I want to be with you_ did you not understand last night?”

Harry ducks his head but there’s a grin on his face as he answers, “All of it. I just don’t understand why someone as amazing as you would want to be with someone like me.”

It’s only the smile still on his face that keeps Louis from scolding him for even thinking something as stupid as that. “ _You_ are far more extraordinary than I’ll ever be, so you can shut that line of thinking down right there, Curly. Let’s settle on both being incredible specimens of humanity and therefore, perfect for each other, shall we?”

Harry’s smile reaches epic proportions as he drops his reins with one hand to reach out for Louis’. “We shall,” Harry answers, interlocking their fingers together as they ride.

And just like that, Louis’ day has turned right around.

 

~*~

 

Murielle is… not what they were expecting.

There is no one outside working the fields, or running around doing household chores, no children playing in the dirt or with the animals.

“Where is everyone?” Harry asks though he knows there are people here. Mages, maybe full-blown wizards. He can feel it, the pull of magic against his own. The village has to be full of them because he feels like he’s being pulled in all directions.

“Maybe they’ve all left?” Louis suggests.

“No,” Harry says with a shake of his head. “Something feels wrong about all of this.”

“Hey, what about the package you’re to deliver?” Louis asks, eyes still scanning the area. “I know you said you’re not supposed to open it, but maybe it will tell us something?”

“Yeah,” Harry nods. There doesn’t appear to be anyone around to deliver it to anyway. “Good idea.”

He fumbles with the bag strapped to his horse until he finds the book he’s to deliver, nestled amongst his belongings. Slowly, he unwraps it, surprised to see his own name on the cover.

“Harry Styles, Enchanter First Class,” He reads and suddenly everything makes more sense, the way he easily charms animals and people alike, the reason his magic has never been suitable for fighting. His magic is meant to protect, not to harm. They’d all heard the stories at the Citadel of the last enchanters, mages that were so pure of heart, they were capable of magic that no other mage could conjure. They were given the power of influence because only they could be trusted to use it without selfish motives. An Enchanter would rank even higher than a Grand Wizard, Harry had been told. Except there hasn’t been an Enchanter born in hundreds of years.  The truth is completely overwhelming when it hits Harry and he looks at Louis with eyes wide with surprise. “I’m an Enchanter,” he whispers.

Louis isn’t looking at Harry though, he’s looking down at his hands, knuckles white where he’s gripping the reins so tightly. He looks miserable.

“So, you’re an enchanter,” Louis says, swallowing harshly before turning his sad eyes on Harry. His eyes shine with mournful tears and Harry’s heart breaks a little at the hurt he sees in them. “All this time…”

Harry’s heart fills with fear. Harry has no idea what’s wrong but his first thought is that Louis’ questioning him, questioning _them_. Some of the most popular stories of the enchanters that came before are stories about the way they could charm people. Make them want to help them when they had no other allies, make them like them, even, in some cases love them. The general public doesn’t get the same stories that they tell at the Citadel. They don’t know that the enchanters would never have played with someone’s feelings like that, they wouldn’t have been capable. Enchanters were the epitome of all that was good in the world. Maybe Louis’ heard the darker stories, maybe he believes them.  

“Louis, I don’t understand,” Harry pleads, not entirely sure what he’s pleading for, reaching out only to grasp onto nothing when Louis nudges his horse a little farther away.

“You were the one I needed, Harry. When I lost my sisters.” Louis is not looking at him, eyes lost on the horizon.

Harry doesn’t know whether to be relieved or worried at finding out the real reason for Louis’ sadness. Can Louis really blame him for something that happened years ago, when Harry had no way of knowing it was happening or what he was? Is that what he’s doing?

“I would have helped you, if I knew,” Harry promises quietly, not even sure if his words will penetrate whatever thoughts are running through Louis’ head.

They do and Louis turns back to Harry, tears staining his cheeks. “I know,” he says with a sad smile, nudging his horse closer again. “I just- it’s a lot, finding out that they could have been saved. If you’d known, if you’d been there. I’d just let all of those feelings go, the guilt and shame at not having done more. Because I thought nothing could have been done but–”

“I didn’t even know what I was until just now, Louis,” Harry says, heart bleeding for the man he’s come to care for more than anything. “I would have tried. For you. But I probably still couldn’t have done anything.”

“Yeah,” Louis’ voice is barely more than as whisper as he accepts Harry’s words. He reaches for Harry’s hand, twining their fingers and apparently notices the way Harry’s shoulders droop with relief. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Harry tries to shrug it off. “It’s nothing.”

“I thought we were past keeping secrets from each other,” Louis chides gently, bringing Harry’s hand to his mouth to press a kiss to his knuckles. “Talk to me.”

Harry breathes deeply. “I was worried… Well, there are stories, about the things enchanters can do. Things like…manipulating people’s feelings,” he watches Louis carefully. “I thought –  when you pulled away from me. I thought maybe you though I was doing that. Using magic to make you like me.”

Louis’ mouth falls open in a little ‘oh’ shape that tells Harry the thought hadn’t even occurred to him until just now. The fear he’d had only moments ago renews itself, tearing through his chest with each frantic beat of his heart.

“But you have to believe me, Louis,” Harry barrels on pleading again, though he knows what he’s asking for this time. “I would never do that. The things you feel for me, I’m not _making_ you feel them,” Harry promises urgently. “At least, not with magic.”

Louis studies Harry’s face, his fearful eyes, taking in the sound of Harry’s tear-choked voice and rushes to assure his enchanter before he can feel even one more second of the hurt he’s inflicting on himself. He moves his horse closer again, close enough that he can skim Harry’s cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away each tear that falls. “You know what?” He asks, staring lovingly into Harry’s eyes. “I don’t even think I would care if it _was_ magic. Harry, my feelings for you feel more real than anything I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”

“I love you, Louis” Harry whispers against the lips that are suddenly pressed against his.

“I love you, too. If it is magic,” Louis whispers back, “never stop.”

Harry laughs joyously. “It’s not. But if it was, I don’t think I could stop it if I tried. And I wouldn’t want to.”

“Good,” Louis smiles briefly, eyes crinkling the way Harry loves, before he’s capturing Harry’s mouth again.

 

~*~

 

The sharp smack of hands clapping together, makes them break away from each other and turn toward the sound.

“Wasn’t that sweet?” A voice, vaguely familiar to Louis, calls from the doorway of one of the houses and a woman steps out, followed by two men flanking either side of her. “I knew the Wizard would send you one day, Enchanter. It took longer than I expected, but I can see why now. He needed to wait for you to fit into your big boy trousers. At any rate, you won’t save them.”

Louis moves to draw his sword when Harry reaches for him and stays his hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harry says, and Louis can tell he’s fighting to keep his voice steady.

“The villagers,” one of the men tells them. “They’re ours.”

“We were just fledgling mages when we started out, travelling from village to town to village, taking what we could and moving on before the wizards could find us and leash us to the Citadel for the rest of our lives.”

Louis’ eyes narrow. He knows who these people are. It’s only a testament to his faith in Harry that he’s not drawing his sword and charging at them right this second.

“They don’t leash us,” Harry informs them only to have them laugh at him.

“That pendant you wear, boy,” another one of the men speaks, nodding at the necklace Louis’ seen Harry clutching on occasion. “Have you tried to take it off?”

“No,” Harry answers, “Why would I want to?”

“Because you’ll never get away from them now,” the woman sneers.

“You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Harry scoffs, shaking his head at them. Louis sees their faces begin to fall when Harry isn’t cowed by their horror tales. “You’ve never even been there and you’re trying to tell _me_ what it’s like?” He laughs incredulously. “You’re fools.”

“Fools with a whole village worth of magic at our disposal. Imagine our surprise when we came across this place, a safe haven for mages. We thought we’d be safe here too but when they heard what we’d done, just trying to get by, they sent a raven out to the Citadel, tried to send the wizards after us. So we banded our magic together, they didn’t know we could do that, and sealed the village off from the outside world,” one of the men says prompting the woman to continue the story.

“The spell was very clear, only an enchanter would be able to pass through it- and apparently, anyone he was touching at the time, that part wasn’t so clear. At any rate, we thought we were safe. Because there were no enchanter’s anymore. But then we got a vision, a young boy chosen by the Grand Wizard and sent to stop us. He’s tried for years on his own, there was no question who you must be if he was sending you. But we have the villagers, little enchanter, and we can draw on their power as well. You’re not going to win this battle.”

“That’s a lovely story,” Louis interrupts, tired of the mages’ egotistical prattling on. “How about we get to the part where you come to my village and promise to save my family from the plague and then run off with our money, leaving them to die. And then we can skip right to the part where I kill you all and deliver your bodies to the Citadel myself.”

“You were all fools. Everyone knows only enchanters have healing magic. Too bad your boy wasn’t there when your family died. And don’t even think about it, you won’t even get your sword drawn before you’re dead,” the woman taunts.

Louis looks to Harry, questioning him silently and hops off his horse only after he gets a small nod from the enchanter. Harry tucks the spellbook, _his_ spellbook, back into his bag and dismounts as well, moving to stand next to his knight. He doesn’t care what Commander Thorne says, Louis is already a knight in Harry’s book.

“Stop,” the woman orders and Louis doesn’t know why she expects a simple word to keep him from coming after them as he draws his sword – unharmed – and continues forward.

“Stop!” She shouts, throwing out her hand and looking panicked as Louis advances. He feels something heavy pushing down on his shoulders, wrapping around his legs. It slows his progress, making him move as though through water, or perhaps quicksand, and he realizes that she’s pushing him back with her magic. _Their_ magic, he corrects when he sees the strain in all of their faces as he continues moving toward them. They remain unaware that Harry is shielding him, and the enchanter’s shield is far greater than all of their power combined.

“NO!” The woman shouts, a sudden burst of magic from her outstretched hands knocking Louis off his feet.

“You!” She narrows her eyes at Harry, finally seeming to realize that his own magic is at work, and moves her focus to him.

Harry expands his shield to protect himself as well as Louis but the magic hits it so forcefully that it blows Harry’s curls back with a gust of wind.

Movement at the corner of Louis’ eye draws his attention away from the battle momentarily and he startles when he sees what must be an army of mages waving their arms and aiming their magic at an invisible wall.

“Uh, Harry?” Louis calls.

“I’m not strong enough for this Louis,” Harry’s voice is strained as he tries to maintain his shield against what is probably the magic of all of the villagers combined at this point.

“Maybe you don’t have to be,” Louis tells him, gesturing towards the other mages waiting just outside the boundary made around the village.

Harry turns his head and Louis can see the relief on his face. It’s short-lived though, Harry shaking his head seconds later.

“I’d have to leave you unprotected in order to break the boundary spell,” Harry argues, “I won’t do that.”

“No, you won’t,” Louis counters. “You can make two shields at once, I’ve seen you.”

“Not this big, Louis!” Harry cries.

“Then, let me worry about myself,” Louis says, grabbing hold of one of Harry’s hands. He doesn’t actually need it to keep the shield up. It just helps him focus his magic if he uses it. “Harry, there’s a whole village of prisoners here. They’re more important than one person.”

“No,” Harry shakes his head, tears falling from his eyes once again and Louis hates himself for causing them but there’s nothing to be done for it. He’s only spoken the truth and he knows Harry feels it too. “I can’t lose you.”

“I’m not going to make promises that I don’t know if I can keep, Harry, but we have to do this, and we have to do it now, alright?”

Harry shakes his head again but makes no verbal protest.

“I love you, and I’ll keep loving you from wherever I am when this is all over. That I _can_ promise.”

Harry takes one shaky breath. “Me too. I’ll always love you.”

And then, Louis can feel it the second he drops the shield.

 

~*~

 

Harry runs. He ducks behind a building so that he’s temporarily blocked from the magic being shot at him and hurriedly works on building two shields. One, a small one, that he throws around Louis. It’s weak, at best, but Harry can’t let his knight go completely unprotected. And the second, he builds so that it’s butting right up against the boundary spell. He’s exhausted once it’s finished, but all he needs is the energy for one good push. His shield should break through the spell if only he has enough force behind it. He tries and finds he can’t, he can’t maintain Louis’ shield and push this one.

He sends up a silent prayer that he’ll be fast enough, that Louis can stay out of the way of danger just long enough, grasps his pendant and kisses it for luck. Then, he stops projecting Louis’ shield and pushes at the boundary with everything he has.

It sounds like the sky cracking open when the boundary breaks and Harry lets his shield drop immediately, letting all the waiting mages from the Citadel into the village of Murielle.

Task completed, Harry slumps against the building he was hiding behind and takes a moment to close his eyes and catch his breath. It occurs to him that this must have been Ben’s plan all along. Get Harry inside the boundary so that he could let the other mages inside and end this once and for all. That must have been why he had Liam escort him to the Citadel. If there wasn’t magic involved, Harry would have wondered how they’d arrived so quickly. Smarmy bastard could have warned them. His eyes fly open seconds later. Louis!

“Louis!” he cries, dispelling a ball of fire that comes flying his way without a second glance. He’ll wonder when he gained that ability later. “Louis!”

“Enchanter!” Harry hears someone call him over the clamor of battle and rush of fire magic scorching the air. He turns and finds the rebel woman staring at him with fury written on her features. It looks like she’s the only one of her group left standing, the others in piles at her feet as she swipes the spells flying at her from the air like they were gnats, mere annoyances. “You’ll pay for this.”

Harry wants to throw some witty quip at her, like Louis would, brush off her words as arrogance but there’s a spark of malicious glee in her eyes that he can’t dismiss as easily as he would like.

He realizes he was right not to when, with she steps aside and he sees Louis among the lumps that were at her feet. She must have captured him while Harry was building the shield to break through the boundary. “Louis!” He cries.

“He’s not dead,” she assures him, waving her arm carelessly and knocking away at least six spells that were headed her way. “Yet. I wanted to give you the honour of a front row seat.”

“No!” He yells as she drags Louis’ limp form up with her magic and moves him in front of her, a human shield that takes the brunt of the next three spells aimed at her before Harry can even attempt to give him a shield of his own. Everything stops at the scream wrenched from Louis’ lips.

“Louis,” Harry whispers as the man falls limp again.

“Let me walk out of here and you might have time to save him, Enchanter” the woman bargains.

“We can’t let her go, Harry,” Ben appears at Harry’s side as if by magic, which is probably and accurate guess. “She’ll only do this again in the next village she finds.”

As much as it hurts, Harry knows he’s right, but he doesn’t have to tell the rebel mage that.

“Fine, go,” Harry tells her, “Just let me help him.”

She grins in triumph. “Shield me from their magic,” she orders, nodding toward the other mages that are watching the exchange with apprehension.

Harry does it, he builds a shield around her, strong one because he knows she’ll be able to feel it. “It’s done.”

She closes her eyes and Harry’s sure she’s feeling out the shield, testing it for weaknesses. “Thank you,” she says with a smirk, muttering a spell to keep the shield in place so that Harry can’t remove it once she tries to leave, and drops Louis’ body. “I’ll see you around, Enchanter.”

She takes one step and then finds she can’t take another. She looks down at her legs, trying to lift them and looking at Harry, panicked, when she can’t. “What’s happening?”

“My shield, my rules,” Harry tells her. “I can’t remove it, now. But I can still control it.” He turns to Ben, “She’s all yours.”

“Not so fast,” the rebel mage says, trying to throw a spell at Harry and shrieking when it bounces back at her.

“ _My_ rules,” Harry reminds her as she glowers.

“Take her,” Ben orders the two of the other mages. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy the accommodations we’ve set up for her at the Citadel.”

Harry doesn’t bother waiting for Ben or the other mages before he’s rushing to Louis, but he can feel Ben walking at his side.

“No, is he—?” Harry can’t even finish the question.

“I don’t know,” Ben places a hand on Harry’s shoulder, looking at him mournfully. ”I don’t think he’s breathing. I can’t fix this, Harry.”

“No, no,” Harry mutters, falling to his knees beside Louis. He’s panicking and he knows Louis doesn’t have time for that. He needs healing. Harry’s breath catches when it occurs to him, he’s the only one who can do this. He can save Louis. But he doesn’t know how!

“What do I do?” Harry turns to Ben, who’s knelt down beside him.

“I don’t know, Harry,” Ben informs him regretfully. “I can’t heal. I don’t know how it works.”

“Louis,” Harry speaks to his knight as he places his hands on Louis’ chest. It’s not rising and falling. Not even a little. “You can’t die on me. I won’t let you.” He keeps his hands on Louis chest and wishes for his heart to beat, for his lungs to fill with air. He wishes with everything he has but it doesn’t work. “Wake up, Louis. Please. You have to wake up, you can’t leave me!” Harry shakes him and then crumples, resting his head against Louis’ chest as he cries for his almost lover. What good is healing magic when there’s no one to teach him how to use it?

Wait. Harry’s breath stops and he sniffs as he lifts his head. His spellbook. Maybe there’s something in the book.

He doesn’t know if it’s just his powers expanding or his desperation but he doesn’t even have to get up before the book is in his hands and the pages are flipping on their own until they stop. The header simply says “Healing” and under it there are only two words. _Selfless love_.

Harry slams the book closed, and cries out in frustration. He already loves Louis, shouldn’t it have worked already?

But then, it wasn’t selfless, was it? The way he cried out for Louis to not leave him. The way he was thinking about having to live his life with half a heart if Louis didn’t wake up.

Harry takes a deep breath and brushes his hair out of his eyes. He leans over Louis again, hands on his chest and makes another wish. He wishes for Louis to live a long and happy life, whether Harry is a part of it or not. He thinks about the future Louis could have, how he’ll become a knight of the highest order one day, how he’ll still be running into Niall ten years from now, visiting him with his family and laughing as he plays with Niall’s smiley, rosy-cheeked children.  He thinks about Louis and his fellow recruit, Liam, being brothers, not just in arms but forging a bond so strong that nothing in this world could break them apart. The only time Harry dares to think about himself is when he allows himself to think about how he’d die for Louis, _is willing_ to die for Louis if that’s what it takes for him to _come back_. “Wherever you are, or wherever I am, I promise to always love you.” He repeats Louis’ promise back to him in a whisper. And then starts the cycle of loving Louis selflessly all over again. As long as it takes, as many times as he has to try, he’s not moving until it works.

 

~*~

 

Louis groans, the pain that had faded coming back to him all at once.

“What happened?” He asks, trying to sit up until the hands on his chest stop him.

He opens his eyes to see a teary-eyed Harry and slack-jawed Ben staring down at him.

“I’m pretty sure you died, Tomlinson,” Ben manages to get out without stumbling over his –still–  wide open maw.

“Oh,” Louis intones, shocked gaze flitting to Harry. “Busy day, then.”

Harry chokes out a laugh and Louis feels pretty accomplished until one of the hands on his chest raises up only to come back and smack him where it was just resting.

“Hey!” He cries. “Don’t you think you should take it easy on the recently deceased?”

 

~*~

 

“Shut up,” Harry warns, with a watery smile. “You nearly left me, I’m allowed a little anger.”

The healing is complete, he can be as selfish as he wants now.

“I said you’d be great, didn’t I?” Ben says, drawing Harry’s attention away for a moment. “I just needed you to believe it, Harry.”

“I’m only as great as my teacher.”

Ben smiles like he thinks he’s somehow earned the praise.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you,” Harry informs him dryly. “All you did was order me from the Citadel, hand me a book with orders not to unwrap it, feed my crippling self-doubt, and send me out on my own with a guard that hated me.”

Ben’s smile drops like a brick at Harry’s assessment of the situation. “I sent you on a quest to discover yourself.”

Harry snorts. “You sent me out to get eaten by wolves. The only reason I didn’t is because Louis was there,” Harry says looking down at Louis, still laying on the ground and looking dazedly back up at him. “ _He_ protected me, trusted me. Somehow, against all odds, he loved me.” Harry twists his fingers into Louis’ hair, no longer bothering with addressing Ben. “I might have brought you back to life Louis, but you’re the one who saved me.”

Louis smirks up at him all faux swagger while his eyes shine bright with love. “And I’d do it again.”

Harry laughs when he both winces and chuckles when Harry tugs on his hair for his cheekiness.

Louis groans, “Can we go home now?”

And, yeah, Harry would really like that.

 

~*~

 

They do go home. It’s a bit awkward with Ben travelling with them, groaning every time he accidentally catches them kissing, or frotting, or touching each other in places that it’s not appropriate to touch when someone else is around but eventually he gets used to it. He stops complaining, at least. Maybe he’s put a spell around himself so he can’t hear the gasped breaths and quiet moans that fill the nights on their journey home.

It just a fortnight and then Louis is back in the practice ring, a full-fledged knight, training recruits now, when Knight Commander Thorne is too fed up with them to do it himself. Well, he takes turns with Liam, who also got knighted for saving the King’s favored daughter from a kidnapping attempt while they were gone. Of course, Louis needs to be careful not to get distracted in the ring when he catches his Enchanter watching from across the courtyard with a filthy grin on his face. Or when he catches some entitled noble or wide-eyed, wistful maid looking at Harry the way Harry looks at Louis.

When Louis complains, often and loudly, Harry just grins and kisses him quiet.

And Louis supposes he can’t really blame them for being enchanted by Harry. He’s still studying under Ben because he’s only just learning what he’s capable of but he often wanders the castle grounds, getting to know everyone and making them fall in love with his smile and the gentle way he has about him. After all, Louis was the first to fall for his charms. And he wouldn’t change a thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~*~

 

Back in his chambers, Benjamin Winston smiles at his success. His vision of Harry becoming the powerful Enchanter he was meant to be has played out perfectly. He knew the young man just needed a push in the right direction. And a strapping, young Knight with a fierce protective streak at his side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


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